Steaking His Claim

Longtime Restaurateur Opening Coastal Chop House in Sea Isle

A sampling of some of the menu items that will be offered on the Coastal Chophouse menu: Wagyu Ribeye, Wagyu Sirloin, Oysters on the Half Shell and Lobster Thermidor.

Tom Brower has a deep and abiding love for Sea Isle City and has had it for years.

He’s also a restaurant guru of sorts. He’s owned restaurants since his early 20s, growing up in the Philadelphia area in Upper Darby, which is in Delaware County or “Delco” as the locals say.

So putting two of his loves together, Brower will open a steakhouse in his beloved Sea Isle City. Coastal Chophouse will be open at the end of June with plans to host a grand opening celebration in July.

“It’s going to be a very high-end steakhouse,” Brower tells the Sea Isle Times, weeks before the planned opening. “I have Ed Doherty behind me. He’s one of the original founders of the Capital Grille in Philly and Union Trust Steakhouse. He’s a steakhouse guru. He’s our mentor. He’s leading the team. Another guy, John Taus, he was the sous chef at Zahav and has since opened up many restaurants for the Michael Schulson group. [Taus is] our culinary leader.”

“Our dining room guru is Jonathan Doherty. He works at Almanac in Philly and helped create their beverage program. They just got voted best bar in America. He’s going to be handling the training of the servers and staff. He’s a stud and will be in charge of FOH [front of house]. We have an all-star team.”

The team from Coastal Chophouse (from left) Ed Doherty, John Taus, Chef Jugo Stevcic and Tom Brower.

A deep restaurant background

Brower bought the Blarney Stone at 39th and Samson in Philadelphia when he was just 21. His restaurant mission continued on from there with the Bryan Street Pub in Drexel Hill, and the Boulevard Bar and Grille in Havertown.

“I’ve done a lot of concession stands, swim clubs and Little League parks, the whole 9 yards, food trucks,” he says. “I’ve been doing it for 30 years. This is where I want to retire and go from there.

“I’ve owned restaurants my whole life, but nothing like this. This is going to be service to a ‘T’ and hospitality as good as it gets. We want to make sure everyone has a good time, good service, good food. The atmosphere is great, the ambience is awesome. Put our best foot forward.

His sister, Pattie Brower, has been a big part of everything, he adds: “She’s always been my No. 1 supporter and has financed most of the steakhouse project. Couldn’t have down it without her.”

Why Sea Isle City and that location?

That corner building at 40th Street and Landis Avenue – 4001 Landis Ave., is the address – has a long history.

The structure dates back to the 1930s. It was the town’s post office at one time, then a delicatessen, and then Shoobies restaurant. Once Brower bought the once bright-yellow building in 2021, he transformed it into Bright Spot Café, which closed in late 2024.

Brower, his sister, and Bob and Karen Kulinski of Phil’s Famous Pizzeria own the actual building.

The original plan was to knock down the building (and the small bungalow that sits behind it on the property) and replace it with a mixed-use development, which would have included six luxury condos and several restaurants, including a Jersey-style diner.

“We are going into the old Bright Spot space,” says Brower, who is part of a development group called What’s the Catch, LLC, which proposed the mixed-use project. “We had plans to knock down and renovate but didn’t get the approvals we wanted so we’re going with Plan B, which I kind of like better. Giving the town an old-school style classic steakhouse.”

'I love the people here, I love the town'

Brower has been coming to the area since the days when the LaCosta Lounge, a famous Sea Isle City bar, was a happening spot. It closed and has since been demolished. The popular Ocean Drive Bar & Restaurant, which dates back to the late 19th century, was also a hot spot and still is. In fact, it’s right next door to his Coastal Chop House location.

“My senior week house was in Avalon, but the second and third summers out of high school, we [he and his friends] rented in Sea Isle,” he shares. “I live now where we lived in ’93 or ’94. It’s pretty weird – 30 years later, I own the property we lived in. I live here now full time, right above the restaurant.”

Brower says when he was growing up, his parents always brought them to the shore. They often frequented Ocean City, sometimes two weeks, three weeks, four weeks in the summertime. He fell in love with being at the shore.

“I do a lot of fishing and can’t get enough of the beach,” he says. “I hate the traffic and I hate the big cities anymore. I love the people here. I love the town.

“I feel like it’s Delco South. I see people more in the summertime here than I do back home. Living here, it’s great to see all the friends, family, familiar faces. They’re all here. Sea Isle’s like a mecca of the Northeast and Delco combined into one.”

What's on the menu?

“The dining room will seat 90 inside,” Brower says. “In the fall, we will get an awning on the outside and will do outside dining on the sidewalk.” The outside dining area will face the Ocean Drive Bar & Restaurant.

“Right now, we’re going to focus on the inside of the restaurant,” he adds. “Doing really good service, putting really good food out, and then once we get all of our kinks out, we’ll start working on the outside.”

Of course, they will also serve seafood. They’re at the shore.

Lobster bisque and a classic shrimp scampi will grace the menu. There will be oysters, caviar, and seafood towers as well.

Brower has partnered up with the boats in Sea Isle so that when the dayboats come in, his restaurant will have the fresh fish of the day “whether it’s swordfish or tuna, mahi mahi.”

“We’ve got some really big names and some heavy hitters here to put a really fine dining steakhouse in South Jersey, which there’s really none,” Brower adds. “You have to go to Atlantic City or Cape May. No one wants to leave Sea Isle when you get here, and the town needs it. It’s seafood, pasta or Italian. It needs a good steakhouse.

“It’s going to be hard to get in. It’s going to be reservations only, no doubt. We’re going to make it a destination place. There’s going to be nothing like it in South Jersey.”